Ex Rank Supporting Role’s Replay in a Prestigious School

Though he wasn’t bare-faced, it was a relief to meet a tiger again after a few days.
Even though I knew it wasn’t the real thing, the familiar energy of the tiger made me feel a little more at ease.
Despite interrupting my rare, deep sleep, I didn’t feel any negative emotions.

‘I knew you’d come eventually. It took longer than I expected.’
With such a suspicious and conspicuous group in the Hojo territory, Hwang-ho couldn’t have just sat idly by.
The reason he hadn’t come earlier was either because he was busy with a mission or someone had stopped him, and it was obvious.

Even if he were busy, a tiger like him wouldn’t hesitate to invest time in something interesting, so the latter was more likely.
‘This is an opportunity. Here, I need to spark his interest with words befitting an oracle. If I go on like this, I’ll end up just being watched by the Hojo without any interaction.’
Cheong-ho prioritizes newcomers, so there’s no room to dig deeper.

Jeok-ho’s interest is focused on Wungyeo, so he is indifferent to us.
To catch Baek-ho’s eye, I’d have to show strength capable of matching swords, but he’s nowhere to be seen.
Also, Eun-ho would never reveal himself.

He’d surely be watching from afar through other Hojo members, fearing that I might read the hidden secrets related to him.
Therefore, I needed to grab Hwang Jiho’s attention this time and use this chance to talk with the Hojo.
“Hmmm, I heard you’re polite, but no greeting?”

“I just woke up from a nap and didn’t know what was going on. Hello, sorry for the late greeting. I thought you’d be coming soon.”
Since the old tiger had once forced me to stop using formalities, I rarely felt the need to be formal, and nearly forgot to greet him.
Even though I recognized that the less-aged tiger before me wasn’t the same as the one I knew, old habits die hard.

Yeom Jun-yeol also recognized Hwang-ho and, though a bit flustered, showed some joy and greeted him, which pleased the tiger.
Though not very old, talking about manners made him seem a little older.
“So, do you know who I am? I don’t need to introduce myself, do I? Take a guess.”
Hwang-ho looked at me, his golden eyes glinting.

His habit of gleaming eyes seemed unchanged from both the Gaechun Myth and in modern times.
Unlike the Hwang Jiho I knew, there was an edge of suspicion in his gaze, but it was clear he was just another tiger.
I picked words I thought would please Hwang-ho, yet still sounded like an oracle.

“You’re Hwang-ho, a close friend of Cheong-ho and Jeok-ho.”
With his golden hair and eyes glowing like that, and acting so majestic, anyone could tell it was Hwang-ho even without knowing Hwang Jiho from modern times.
It seemed Hwang-ho liked the phrase “close friend of the tigers” even more than being recognized right away.

It was clear he had liked tiger friends since old times.
Hwang-ho chuckled briefly.
“Haha, you know well, Cheong-ho and Jeok-ho are my close friends. You knew them without me introducing them!”

Actually, it seemed I should hear what Jeok-ho or Cheong-ho had to say about the term “close friends.”
Although I didn’t know whether other tigers would agree, Hwang-ho would probably claim them as close friends for the next 5,000 years, so there wouldn’t be much of an issue.
Hwang-ho’s laughter didn’t last long.

His face quickly sobered as he spoke again.
“Well, if you can’t even do this much, you can’t call yourself an oracle.”
It seemed like Hwang-ho wasn’t completely convinced I was truly an oracle, as he emphasized the word "self-proclaimed" with a bit of force.

Within the Hojo family, there were already Eun-ho and the shaman, both capable of reading hidden secrets.
Hwang-ho might not know exactly what secrets they were reading or how they were acting, but he likely knew they were powerful oracles.
It was natural for him to be suspicious of my sudden appearance in Hojo territory, especially since those two had no knowledge of me.

Hwang-ho asked, almost like testing me.
“Do you have any prophecies about me? If an oracle who entered the Hojo’s territory can’t even predict my future, they’re no different from a fraud.”
Prophecies aren’t like attack skills that target specific individuals.

While it’s possible to read the general direction of the future with effort, prophecies manifest themselves unpredictably, making it difficult to predict someone’s exact future.
For example, Woo Gi-hwan, recognized as a powerful oracle by Hyunmoo, unintentionally predicted which professional baseball team would be last in the league.
Also, he predicted that the valedictorian and salutatorian would be Do-won and Woo Gi-hwan until graduation, successfully glimpsing personal futures.

It’s possible that the oracle’s power could read someone’s future if the conditions are right, but that’s about it.
Even if I truly was an oracle, it was uncertain whether I could read Hwang-ho’s future.
‘He must know that, but he’s still asking for a reason.’

If I couldn’t prophecy, I could still test my quick thinking, adaptability, eloquence, and courage.
If needed, I could push it into a battle and test my combat abilities.
However, this conversation wouldn’t go as Hwang-ho intended.

I already knew quite a bit about Hwang-ho’s future.
Some of the things were prophecies that an oracle might say, and others were widely known, so even if they were broadcast by the otherworld simulator, they wouldn’t be an issue.
Hearing them might not sit well with Hwang-ho, though.

“Hasn’t someone in the Hojo family already talked about your future?”
“There’s no one in the Hojo family who speaks recklessly about the future.”
“Of course, no one would speak carelessly. But there are those who worry about the Hojo family’s future.”

Eun-ho hadn’t handed Hwang-ho a major responsibility without preparation.
This was something I could guess without hearing the Gaechun Myth from a tiger.
“You will become the leader of the Hojo family. The current leader is probably already preparing to hand over the position to you.”

Hwang-ho’s eyes, which had been sparkling with a smile, grew slightly dim.
It seemed he didn’t like what I said.
It wasn’t because I was wrong, but rather because it was something he already knew but didn’t want to hear.

Hwang-ho, trying not to show too much emotional fluctuation, spoke again in a tone similar to before, but his gaze had completely changed, making it clear it had no effect.
“An oracle who knows too much tends to speak recklessly and die early. If you knew that I deeply respect the current leader and have no intention of taking that position, you would’ve kept quiet.”
Hwang-ho warned me, but I considered this conversation a success.

While Hwang-ho seemed a bit upset, it was clear from his words that he saw me as an oracle.
What I had just said was common knowledge in the modern world, but in this era, it was likely only discussed within certain parts of the Hojo family, so it felt like something an oracle would say.
Since I had appealed to the oracle-like side of me, I now needed to grab Hwang-ho’s interest even more.

I knew that just giving him a little fear wouldn’t get his attention. I had to speak more convincingly.
“If I had stayed silent just now, you would have forced me to speak. If I had kept silent till the end, I would have gone from a suspicious oracle to a talentless fraud.”
“You speak well.”

Hwang-ho clicked his tongue, but his eyes gleamed again.
It was clear that he was intrigued.
But I could also sense that he didn’t like what the oracle was saying, and if I truly were an oracle, I might become a threat to the Hojo family, so he wasn’t very keen on it.

His golden eyes continued to stare at me.
“I don’t want to kill you, but what should I do?”
A sense of déjà vu hit me.

I had heard something similar when I recognized Hwang Jiho sitting casually in the 1st-year 0-class classroom, and later, when I had a three-way confrontation with Hwang Myungho’s clone in the president’s office at Eunhui-gwan.
What had he said back then?
Wasn’t it something like pondering what to do if his identity was questioned because of me?

Hearing those words again now felt a little nostalgic yet strange, though the atmosphere was not great.
Hwang-ho was genuinely pondering whether to kill me, and Yeom Jun-yeol had caught onto this and was preparing to respond.
“I’m seriously thinking about whether to kill you, and you’re not even scared. Well, if you didn’t have that courage, you wouldn’t be spouting nonsense in Hojo’s territory.”

Seeing me lost in thought, Hwang-ho, who seemed a bit nostalgic, spoke.
I had just been quietly reminiscing about the old Hwang Jiho, and it seemed he thought I wasn’t scared because of that.
If Hwang-ho really attacked, it would be a bit troublesome, but it worked out well.

It seemed Hwang-ho was getting more intrigued by the fearless oracle.
“Oracle, can you remove the cloth covering your face? If you do, I’ll show you my face under the mask. I’d like to see that suspicious face in full.”
It wouldn’t matter if I showed my face, but seeing Hwang-ho’s real face would make it hard to distinguish him from the Hwang Jiho in reality, and it seemed like it might be troublesome.

Even though he was intrigued by me, Hwang-ho was still a difficult tiger to deal with, and if he removed his mask, he might start treating me like he would Hwang Jiho.
I was about to refuse, but I changed my mind just before speaking.
“If you answer my question, I’ll remove the cloth covering my face based on your response. You don’t have to take off your mask.”

“Hm, you’re not curious about my handsome face? You’re being wasteful, not very oracle-like. But I’ll listen to your question. However, whether I answer is up to me.”
Confident in his own face, Hwang-ho seemed displeased, but since I was already familiar with Hwang Jiho’s face, I wasn’t that interested.
I decided to ask my question.

“I’ve heard a song a few times in the Hojo territory. Just before you arrived, I heard a sound again.”
When I went out with Dokgo Miro and fell into a deep sleep, I heard that faint song.
It was unclear whether someone was singing or playing an instrument.

“Who’s making that sound?”
Since I had heard it just before waking up, it was likely Hwang-ho had heard it too.
I expected Hwang-ho to either answer immediately or claim he hadn’t heard anything, but his response was different from what I anticipated.

Hwang-ho narrowed his eyes behind the mask.
“Hm, it’s a shame I couldn’t see the suspicious oracle’s face.”
“Was it a difficult question to answer?”

“Haha, so even the suspicious oracle doesn’t know everything.”
Hwang-ho subtly deflected the question.
I was about to press further, but decided against it.

After all, I could ask Hwang Jiho about this directly once the otherworld simulation was over.
Though it felt a bit off, I decided not to pursue it any further.
At that moment, the outside became noisy.

“Looks like your team has returned. Doesn’t seem like just a stroll, though.”
As Hwang-ho said, the scouts who had gone out returned.
Seeing them, Yeom Jun-yeol was surprised and immediately ran over.

Yeom Jun-yeol quickly asked Gwak Kyung-gu.
“What happened? And what’s that on your back...?”
“We fought with the external forces. We were just supposed to scout, but we couldn’t leave them alone.”

Dokgo Miro, Gwak Kyung-gu, and Park Seung-hyun all showed clear signs of having fought.
Their energy usage was significant, and there were traces of battle on their uniforms.
But there was a bigger problem than just the fight.

“That... It’s Yao Ruichi, isn’t it?”
On Gwak Kyung-gu’s back was one of the players from the Chinese team, Yao Ruichi.